This trip was amazing! Exactly what we needed.
We started the trip the night before, with a night out at a restaurant. I certainly didn't want to cook or clean after cooking and cleaning and packing all day, so we went to a place called the Strap Tank. We were immediately given a $50 gift certificate that some kind soul had purchased and asked the wait staff to give to the next people to come along. What a nice way to start a vacation, we were super grateful!
(Sweetheart was in her ballet clothes because we went straight from dance.)
The next morning we took off and started the long drive through Utah and Colorado.
We passed some incredibly beautiful scenery, had dinner at a cute little spot in Denver, and then continued to the border where we found a hotel just barely before you cross into Kansas where we crashed for the night. The girls started out sleeping in the bed the normal way as evidenced by their pillows in the picture below, but somehow by morning they ended up like this:
The next morning we were up and back on the road fairly early, and just a few minutes into the drive we found Kansas!
At lunchtime somewhere in the middle of Kansas, we decided to stop and find a restaurant that we found on the GPS. Apparently we accidentally landed in the Czech Capital of Kansas (what, you didn't know that was a thing?) so we enjoyed some traditional Czech food along with burgers and chicken nuggets at this crazy restaurant that had been there since probably the beginning of Kansas.
And of course we had to stop and visit the largest Czech egg! It was so crazy random to find this in the middle of Kansas.
After lots more driving, we found Missouri! And then we decided the sign was in a place not safe at all to get out of the car for pictures, so this is the best we got:
We got to Aunt Aura's house near St. Louis pretty late that night and went right to bed, but the next day all the cousin fun began!
This was Christmas Eve, and we wandered to nearby St. Charles, which is the cutest little historic town. They had an event where all these Christmas characters from different stories went around handing out cards and playing in character with the people.
I wish I had gotten more pics of the fun of this day! I believe Marquis took some, so I'm going to try to track them down and get them added.
Then we of course had to make cookies for Santa, and carrot sticks for the reindeer!
Santa found us, even in a different state, and we had a grand time checking out all our new stuff.
Christmas Day was on a Sunday, so we went to church, and then on the way home we stopped by to see the St. Louis Temple and get a fun pic taken.
More cousin fun!
St. Louis has an amazing zoo, and it's totally free! We spent a wonderful day there checking out all the animals.
We also stopped by for a fun pic with the arch.
We had so much fun at Aunt Aura's house. We stayed a total of 4 nights, and we had so much fun and food and just a general soaking up of the people that we love. We will be back as soon as possible, that's for sure!
After tons of fun in Missouri, we got in the car for another long ride to visit Aunt Lacey in Oklahoma, with a stop on the way at the Pioneer Woman Mercantile. This stop was pretty much entirely for me.
Aunt Lacey drove a long way to meet us there. There was a 4-6 hour wait for the restaurant, so we opted instead for the 1 hour wait for the deli counter. It was so busy this day!
More cousin fun at Lacey's house!
We explored a natural history museum there.
And just like that, 3 nights went by and it was time to head home. We picked up some cool shades for the drive:
Hello Texas!
We stopped in Amarillo, Texas for lunch at the biggest tourist trap we could find, the Big Texan Steak Ranch. It was over the top and way over priced, but the girls had a blast.
At about this point Princess turned to me and said, "I feel like I'm in a dream!" and I haven't stopped laughing about that since.
The kids' meals came served in a complimentary cowboy hat! (Just ignore the fact that the kids' meals here are $3 more than a kids' meal anywhere else in the world.)
And then we kept driving to New Mexico!
We spent the night at a hotel in Albuquerque. This was also New Year's Eve. Marquis was getting sick and was exhausted from driving all day, so after a quick dinner out he laid down and was out for the count by 8:30. The girls both said they would stay up with me until the New Year, so we cuddled in bed watching Youtube videos. Princess fell asleep not long after that, but Sweetheart was determined to stay up, and so we did! At midnight we could hear fireworks, so we tried to look out the window and find them, but never could. Then Sweetheart got in bed and fell asleep instantly.
The next morning we were on to Utah!
We passed through Arizona on the way.
We went a little out of the way to go to Four Corners, only to discover that it is only closed 3 days a year; Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. So we took a sad picture outside the gate.
Then Utah!
This is the Monticello, Utah Temple. It was smaller than the church next door! So teeny, but fun to see.
And then we were home!
Even though this post was long, there was no way to include all the fun, adventure, and memories of our trip. This trip has only sparked more of our gypsy spirits, and we need to travel more!
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